Portable security cameras coming to Lewiston in effort to curb criminal activity

LEWISTON, Maine (WMTW) - Maine’s second-largest city will be receiving more than a dozen portable security cameras, which police hope will help deter criminal activity and capture visual evidence that can be used in their investigations.

The Lewiston Police Department was able to secure a $70,000 federal grant that will pay for 14 security cameras that can be moved around where they are needed.

“We can move them around to specific city events. If we have something going on in the park, we can move them there just to provide that extra layer of security,” said Lewiston police Lt. Derrick St. Laurent.

The addition of the portable security cameras comes as Lewiston has experienced an increase in gun violence, as several shootings have been reported over the past couple of weeks.

Several vehicles in the parking lot of the Masjidu Salaam Mosque were struck by gunfire on Friday, June 20. No injuries were reported, but people who live and work in the city have expressed worry.

Malcolm Tariq, manager of the Seven Days Market on Bartlett Street, said he would rather see a heavier police presence than more security cameras, noting that a criminal coming face to face with an officer is more effective.

“This area is not patrolled at all,” Tariq said. “I have 24 cameras. If you go to (a nearby) store, they have 18 cameras. The cameras are not a problem. You can put up 100 cameras. If someone’s going to do it, they’re going to do it.”

“The answer to that is we can’t have an officer everywhere all the time,” St. Laurent said. “We do have foot patrols. We have upped our patrol presence in the downtown area.”

St. Laurent said the new portable cameras should be up and ready to roll later this summer.